Source/Archive record SEM8585 - No. 14 High Street, Dunster, Exmoor National Park: Rapid building appraisal

A rapid building assessment was undertaken on 26 April 2017 to inform the proposed partial removal of an interior wall at 14, High Street, Dunster. Prior to c.1873, nos. 12 and 14 High Street formed a single property known as the George Inn. It may have been documented in 1463 but is more reliably documented from 1665, and was mentioned to be 'ancient and decayed' in 1789. It was repaired in c.1800 but was again in a bad state by 1815. It closed as an inn in 1871 and was partly demolished in 1873, when it was converted into two domestic dwellings. A review of historic mapping suggests demolition was limited to buildings to the rear of the surviving structure, possibly (in the case of no. 14) including a small square detached kitchen block linked to the main building by a covered galley at first floor level. No. 14 includes a cruck roof and so is likely to predate the 17th Century date mentioned in the Listing description; it is possible that no. 12 also has a cruck roof but it may have been an extension, or no. 14 may have been raised. Work in the village has revealed many houses are late medieval in date. The house is of two cell and staggered cross passage plan, with a 19th Century lean to on the rear. It shows architectural features of the medieval, 17th Century and 19th Century periods. The crucks in the roof are jointed into a principle set into the wall. Two ground floor doorways are also medieval, although they may have been altered or moved; there are also two substantial transverse ceiling beams supporting the first floor with deep chamfers and plain cut stops, one beam having a slot for a partition on its northern side. Two windows and possibly a door date from the 17th Century. The partition wall to be partially removed is of brick and divides the main ground floor room from the entrance hallway, bisecting the ground floor bay window. Fixtures on the wall suggest it is of 19th Century date and possibly date it to the post 1873 remodelling of the building; its value lies in its contribution to our understanding of the 19th Century remodelling of the structure.